Another spinoff to honoring family members... WWYD?

SoleilMoon · May 2009

If you wanted your child's MIDDLE NAME to be after your grandfather who passed away, but you're having a girl would you...

?

1. ?use his exact name

2. ?use his first initial?

3. ?don't use it at all for this child

?

Just curious. ?oh and assume the name isn't THAT bad for a girl. ?It's a boy name but could work for a girl too. ?And don't forget it would be the middle name, not first name. ?

?Thanks.?

ashleycharee · May 2009

What is the name? I would probably use the name itself, but I tend to like "boy" names for girls.

HopingForOne · May 2009

Both of my middle names are after my grandfathers (I was the second girl...sister got both grandmother's names)

What my parents did was take the very masculine names and find feminin equivalents.

For example, I have Samantha after my grandfather Samuel.

So that is one option...of course, if the names aren't "that" bad for girls, I would certainly considered that as well. Or one of each (one more "boyish" name, and one feminized version)

I think it's nice to still honour them if you can

jebuell · May 2009

I'd go exact. My grandfather is Thomas, I would literally just give my daughter Thomas as a middle name. Most people don't go by their middles names and applications and forms and stuff only ask for middle initial, so I don't think it would be a problem especially since it can work for a girl anyway.

LMS05 · May 2009

I would save it for my son and honor a grandma or great-grandma instead. This is what we are doing. If it's a boy we are honoring Dh's grandpa Jacob and if it's a girl we are honoring his grandma Ruth. I dislike unisex names and hate using boy names for girls.

amyfelice · May 2009

My grandfather was Max so we are naming DD Elena Maxine.

ttmccoot · May 2009

LMS05:
I would save it for my son and honor a grandma or great-grandma instead. This is what we are doing. If it's a boy we are honoring Dh's grandpa Jacob and if it's a girl we are honoring his grandma Ruth. I dislike unisex names and hate using boy names for girls.

not everyone plans one having more than one child.

i would go exact, as well. something quirky with a great story is a fine idea, and as jebuell pointed out, a middle name hardly ever gets mentioned.

Becky262 · May 2009

Depends on the name.

FWIW, I'm named after my dad and grandfather. GF's fn was Louis. My dad is Robert Louis. My mom wanted to name me after my dad but hated Roberta, so I'm Rebecca Louise.

jebuell · May 2009

Oooh, this reminds me of a story my Dad told me once: I don't know who he was talking about, I don't think it was his friend I think it was someone famous but I can't remember who. Anyway, it was a couple named John and Shirley- John was the woman and Shirley was the man. John was the fourth of four daughters, and their parents decided she was the last so they gave her the family name, which was John. I can't remember why the guy got the name Shirley, but it was something very similar.

Anyway, it worked for them! And those were their first names!

LMS05 · May 2009

jebuell:
Oooh, this reminds me of a story my Dad told me once: I don't know who he was talking about, I don't think it was his friend I think it was someone famous but I can't remember who.? Anyway, it was a couple named John and Shirley- John was the woman and Shirley was the man.? John was the fourth of four daughters, and their parents decided she was the last so they gave her the family name, which was John.? I can't remember why the guy got the name Shirley, but it was something very similar.
Anyway, it worked for them!? And those were their first names!

I misread it. Never mind

Sweden+Canada · May 2009

Depends on the name. Even though I strongly dislike using boy names for girls it does work with some names. If it's one of those names I would give her hise exact name. However, if it's a very manly name then I would probably not use it for this child at all.

And then there's sometimes the option of using the female version of the name. Doesn't always works since all names don't have a obvious female version but sometimes.

mrsc720 · May 2009

Sweden+Canada:
Depends on the name. Even though I strongly dislike using boy names for girls it does work with some names. If it's one of those names I would give her hise exact name. However, if it's a very manly name then I would probably not use it for this child at all.
And then there's sometimes the option of using the female version of the name. Doesn't always works since all names don't have a obvious female version but sometimes.

I would do this.

squeakerabudhbabi · May 2009

I like boy names for girls; so, I'd probably just go for it!

naflmj · May 2009

Really depends on the name. My Grandfather was Raymond and went by Ray so if I have a girl, her middle name will be Rae, if it's a boy Ray or Raymond.

Temp159135562506975 · May 2009

not sure why you didn't just write the name in the post- would make it a lot easier for people to give a good opinion... but if you think it would be OK for a girl- why not just go with the exact name?

My son's middle name is Ellison after my grandfater - i'd use it for a girl, to.

joelle&joseph · May 2009

If it was just the middle name I would use the boy name.

My dad passed away this year and I want to name our DD after him but there weren't any good girl equivalents of his first name so I'm just using his initials for her first and middle name. And the middle name we are using is my grandmother's so I got to honor 2 people.

mermer82 · May 2009

If it can go either way and that's what you want to use, I say do it.

I was named after my dad, but my name is used more as a girl name now and when he was born it was used more as a male name. (Meredith)?

kjlrs · May 2009

I would say either use it exactly unless a super obvious feminine equivalent exists (ie Robert and Roberta) or don't use it at all.

While middle names aren't used a ton, they're definitely spoken, and I'm pretty sure I would have been teased relentlessly as a child if my mn were John or something.

DarcyLongfellow · May 2009

I can't answer because it depends on the name.

If the name was something like Maxwell, I think that would be a great middle name for a girl because it sounds like a family name. If it's Jonathan, not so much.

I'd be down with a female version of a male name. Like, if grandpa was George, use Georgina or Georgianna.

I'm in the "I don't get how just picking one of the hundreds of other names that happens to start with the same letter is actually honoring someone else's name" camp, so I don't like option #2.

If it were me, I would pick option 3 because this is my first child and I plan to have 1 or 2 more. So, the chances of having a boy eventually are pretty great, and I'd rather use grandpa's name for a boy. If you only plan to have one child, this wouldn't be a good plan for you.

wheelenl · May 2009

It depends on the name. If it could go either way, sure. If there is an obvious femininization, like Georgia, then I would go that way. If it sounds like it could be a last name, like using someone's maiden name, sure.

If it's something that only sounds like a first name and only sounds masculine, I would honor someone else, or honor him by using his middle name or last name instead. Using his last name could even honor several people at once...

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Another spinoff to honoring family members... WWYD?

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